US carrier Eastern Airlines will launch a one weekly seasonal summer service between Chicago O'Hare and Sarajevo, marking the introduction of nonstop transatlantic flights from Bosnia and Herzegovina’s capital. The airline will operate the route each Friday from Chicago starting May 28 until September 3, while the return service will run on Sundays. All flights will be performed by the Boeing 767-200ER aircraft which has the capacity to seat 238 passengers, of which eighteen are in the premium cabin and the remaining 220 in economy. The premium cabin boasts a 2-2-2 seat layout, while the economy section features a 2-3-2 seat configuration.
Tickets for the flights have already been put on sale through the airline's website. Chicago was the second busiest unserved route from Sarajevo in the United States after New York. In 2019, a total of 5.995 passengers flew indirectly between the two cities. Overall, it was the sixteenth busiest unserved route from Bosnia and Herzegovina's capital. It jumped to eleventh position in 2020, although passenger volumes were significantly down due to the coronavirus pandemic. Citizens from Bosnia and Herzegovina are permitted to enter the United States with a valid visa and a negative coronavirus test, while US citizens may also enter Bosnia and Herzegovina with a negative PCR test.
Eastern Airlines offers passengers three different fare types, all of which include one checked-in bag, while its premium cabin passengers may bring with them a second bag free of charge. Its aircraft feature an on board entertainment system with a selection of movies, shows and music which can be streamed onto the passengers personal device. "We want our passengers to have a good experience while traveling with Eastern. Instead of spending on frills, go with our low fare, no-frills ticket and save your money. All Eastern Airlines flights are always direct and nonstop. This means significant time savings and no wasted time changing planes or reaching through the airport to catch your connection. More importantly, your health and safety is more valuable than ever. Nonstop flights equal less time spent in airports, less touchpoints, and a safer adventure", the company said.
Further flight details for the new service can be found here.
WOW
ReplyDeleteIf the Chickago works well in 2021, is there any plans to expand in 2022 to other US Cities (Boston, NYC, St Louis, Atlanta, DC, Philadelphia, Phoenix and so on)?
DeleteWhat?!?!?
ReplyDeleteWhy no one wants to fly slovenia routes with demand :(
DeleteSkobir, watch and learn from SJJ :)
DeleteI keep asking myself the same question! Why is everyone avoiding us so much?
DeleteWhy? For us is no problem to drive till Milano,Munich... 🤦😕
DeleteI don't want to drive🤪 and just yesterday the minister of transport visited LJU airport...what for...two daily flights?
DeleteHow about the 'nobody likes us' crew from LJU takes a break today.
DeleteWhat about other US locations (Boston, NYC, DC, Atlanta and so on) in 2022 or after...?
DeleteAll for SJJ right ...
DeleteIs the Bosnian diaspora mostly concentrated in Chicago in the US?
ReplyDeleteNope, St Louis is the biggest "Bosnian" US city.
DeleteThanks. But I guess their is a big ex-yugo diaspora in Chicago. They might attract a lot of passengers from the region.
DeleteWhy would someone from "the region" fly to SJJ that has God-awful connections with the rest of ex-YU (both road- and air-wise) if they can just transfer somewhere and get to their destination directly?
DeleteThis can only be successful if Bosnian VFR travel can support it, which I'm frankly skeptical about.
@Vlad
DeleteWell, the airline is American. With the level of American geographical education and also the American way of thinking in mind, I wouldn't be surprised if they thought that, to serve the whole Ex-Yu region, their best bet is to fly to the geographical and also kinda ethnical centre of it.
I doubt that it'll work well, but I can see the potential of it. The only reasonable direct alternatives are LO from BUD, AA from ATH and TK from IST. So the Balkan is basically unserved from Chicago. Eastern Airline is an intereseting airline with a weird strategy anyways, so they probably have thought about it.
Sarajevo has brilliant connections with Croatia and decent with Serbia, only issue is north Montenegro.
DeleteBrilliant? Decent? It takes 4 hours by car to Split, 5 hours to Zagreb and 5 hours to Belgrade. No one from outside Bosnia will use these flights.
DeleteWhen Eastern Airlines goes after Croatian or Serbian pax, they will fly one weekly to ZAG, DBV or BEG respectively and they will get those pax. No need to channel all ex-Yu pax through one airport. For now they do just a couple of flights for pax from Bosnia.
DeleteWell that was unexpected
ReplyDeleteWell done Sarajevo!
ReplyDeleteCan this work?
ReplyDeleteNaravno.
DeleteI doubt it but hey, lets try it first !
DeleteWhy does their plane sit the entire day in SJJ?
ReplyDeleteFlight is around 12h or more. Also Crew needs to rest before return flight.
Delete@Mehanicar it's not gonna be the same crew taking the airplane back 12 hours later my man, it's gonna be the crew that arrived on the previous flight. Highly doubt they'd be legal to operate a flight with 10 hours of rest in the hotel.
DeleteDeparture time from ORD is 19:05 (Friday), which would be 2:05 (Saturday) SJJ time. With landing at 11:05 (Saturday), that's 9h flight time.
DeleteDeparture from SJJ is 08:00 (Sunday), giving crew nearly 23h rest in SJJ between flights, not counting for any post- and pre-flight duties.
Complete non-event from crew hours standpoint. It would be insanely inefficient to have a crew sitting in the hotel for a week just to operate one flight.
Sarajevo is on fire this year!
ReplyDeleteYes. New Wizz Air base, more and more new European airlines starting flights and now this! Crazy.
DeleteAnd these US flights launch just a few days after Wizz Air opens its Sarajevo base
DeleteDon't forger FlyBosnia relaunching too.
DeleteLMAO, Sarajevo is having one of its best years during the biggest pandemic ever, whereas the rest of the world is flopping big time. I cant xD
ReplyDelete+1
Delete238 seats once per week for a few months could work. Good luck :)
ReplyDeleteI think so too
DeleteSo Sarajevo will be the only ex-Yu city with flights to Chicago :D
ReplyDeleteYes!
DeleteWhat an exciting year for Sarajevo. Well done.
ReplyDeleteLove their livery
ReplyDeleteAnyone flown with them before?
ReplyDeleteSarajevo Airport better hurry up with its expansion. It will need the extra capacity.
ReplyDeleteThey should never have stalled the construction.
DeleteWhat are the fares like?
ReplyDeleteReturn economy ticket in June is $1,826.45 USD
DeleteInsane amount of money that not a lot could afford 😅
DeleteIt's fantastic to see so many new positive developments at Sarajevo. Is this related to their new management or just the market taking care of itself?
ReplyDeleteI think it has more to do with Covid and the government realizing it can't milk the airport for ever. They finally got rid of those stupid taxes.
DeleteThe airport must be doing something right. I doubt Eastern Airlines was waiting for the Bosnian air development tax to be removed to start flights.
DeleteWe only needed a deadly global virus for the management to wake up :)
DeleteIs TODA of 2600m long runway in LQSA safe enough for 7772 to take off?
ReplyDeleteAircraft type is 767 not 777.
DeleteB767 has landed without issue in Sarajevo in the past. A few years ago there were flights from Kuwait with the B767.
DeleteLanding is not the issue. Take off is. Fuel for the flight of 5 hours and 11 hours make BIG difference. Btw. congratulations to ZAG, after BEG and DBV now SJJ as well will have link with the US and the airport which logically should have been southeastern Europe gateway to North America still in deep sleep, led by "flag carrier"
DeleteKWI is a bit closer than ORD.
DeleteI'm pretty sure any decent commercial department will have looked into available payloads before announcing routes.
Na međunarodni aerodrom Sarajevo par puta je sletio i avion B777 Pakistanske aviokompanije, a također i B747, tako da je moguće slijetanje velikih aviona
DeleteNa Međunarodni aerodrom Sarajevo mogu sletjeti B777 i B747, samo ne može AN225
Delete@Anon 12:01,
DeleteLet's hope they are decent.
When a middle eastern airline wanted to start their B767 SJJ route around 10 years ago, they contacted a BiH virtual aviation community for advices.
Was of course forwarded to BHDCA. But could have ended with advices from a teenager...
I'm in shock.
ReplyDeleteZasto?
DeleteDidn't expect this. Did you?
DeleteThe sky's the limit
ReplyDeleteAlthough i can imagine more suited places in Ex Yu to fly this to, it still is a good deal for Bosnia and its neighbouring countries .
ReplyDeleteEspecially as it is low frequency and in summer .
But if Croatia Airlines or Air Serbia would open Chicago routes to their main bases then Sarajevo of course would be immediately dead .
Air Serbia is the new Croatia Airlines: Is it too early for Air Serbia to start a second long haul destination to Chicago or Toronto five years after starting New York service? Air Serbia answers: It is too early for that!
DeleteWhy do you think this route wouldn't work if another airline from another country started flights to Chicago. I think people, especially diaspora, would prefer nonstop flights.
Delete@10.59 everyone does what they think is financially best for them.
DeleteBecause the Bosnian community is smaller than the other communities in Ex Yu .
DeleteAnd going to Sarajevo with car or bus is a pain in the ass .
I for example can imagine myself to take that flight, but i know reaching Sarajevo would be an adventure by itself .
With lease rates half of what they used to be, no one else thinks it's financially best for them. Sarajevo airport might have helped Eastern with some incentives to start this route but so could have BEG airport with Air Serbia.
DeleteDemand for Air travel in the US is on the way back to 2019 levels. Some airlines are returning all crew and aircraft to service this summer. Cruise ship bookings for 2022 are even stronger than for 2019. Many indications point to strong recovery in the US. Kudos to SJJ management for recognizing trends and showing even smaller airport could have nonstop seasonal service to the US. Air Serbia is literally asleep at the wheel, failing to recognize those trends. Canada is lagging US in terms of vaccination but they will catch up during summer and so will travel demand.
DeleteNekim ,strucnjacima, na ovom blogu, ova vijest uopste ne odgovara:-)
DeleteUS is back to 2019 levels for domestic travel, as there are no travel restrictions in place.
DeleteInternational travel to/from USA is entirely different story.
International travel restrictions are expected to be partially lifted in the coming months between countries with high vaccination rates and shrinking infection rates.
DeleteSJJ - the only winnter of covid pandemic lol.
ReplyDeleteIronic isn't it
DeleteNice!
ReplyDeleteTheir network seems to be targeting niche markets. They are flying out of several US cities to secondary cities in Latin America. They may be spreading themselves too thin. Time will tell if they survive.
ReplyDeleteThey have been around for several years.
DeleteActually they haven't. This third reincarnation of Eastern Airlines launched in early 2020.
DeleteAccording to Wikipedia this airline ceased operations in 1991 ...
ReplyDeleteBecause you are not looking at the correct Eastern Airlines. It used to be a major company that went bankrupt. Then a few years ago someone bought their brand and renamed their existing airline to Eastern Airlines LLC.
Deletehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eastern_Airlines,_LLC
Correct, they started new .
DeleteStill only with 737 MAX .
So they will probably charter the ac for this flight .
You are still looking at the wrong company. They don't have MAX aircraft at all. They have 767s and 777s.
Deletehttps://iflyea.com/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eastern_Airlines,_LLC
?
DeleteBEG and ZAG be like :о
ReplyDeleteYes haha!
DeleteI wouldn't hold my breath over this. Eastern was extremely unpredictable in recent months. They kept on announcing routes and then suspending them. They only seem to do well in MIA and on few routes out of LAX.
ReplyDeleteMost of their announced routes out of JFK won't be launched in the end.
This will never work out .
ReplyDeleteActually its beyound stupid .
Ti znas😂
DeleteSvaka Čast. Ovo je extra vijest
ReplyDeleteNije ovo extra vijest, ovo je redovna vijesti.
DeleteWhat a huge surprise! SJJ is definitely on fire this year. Long-haul flights, W6 base, Fly Bosnia fleet upgrade, 4 operational airports and this during Corona times. Imagine during normal circumstances...
ReplyDeleteExcellent job, BiH!
+1
DeleteExcellent news! Good luck!
ReplyDeleteGood news for SJJ but the ticket prices might be a deal braker.
ReplyDeleteTicket prices are ridiculous, you can almost fly J for that kind of money.
DeleteCongratulations, but I wouldn't be surprised at all if nothing happens after this.
ReplyDeleteNa prvom izgleda kao lijepa vest. A ondak se sazna da jest budet karta za lijet ne daleko od $2,000 per person. Ba nece da leti za te dengi. 4 x 2 peoples is almost $8,000 por familia. Kakva katastrofa for Bosnjaci.
ReplyDeleteMasala majstore, bolji Esperanto dugo nisam procitao 😃
DeleteLH kosta 1000€ sa koferom. Onda radje 1450€ PA DIREKTNO I sletis u SVOM GRADU.
DeleteKo nema 1500€ za kartu nek se ODMA vrati u BiH. Sta ce Onda po Americi ginuti od 2-3 posla da prezivi?!
Osim toga: SJJ - ORD ima preko 30.000 putnika godisnje.
This summer BEG and SJJ will have wide body traffic.
ReplyDeleteShame about ZAG.
This is a great development for Sarajevo.
ReplyDeleteShows that anything is possible and that all ex-Yu airports should aim high.
ReplyDeleteI wish them good luck. I just hope this doesn't end up like those Chicago Rockford - Belgrade/Zagreb flights operated by Swift Air when people even boarded the inaugural flight and were told the flights are cancelled. I think it was in 2009 or 2010.
ReplyDeleteFun fact for y'all: the B762 is an extremely rare aircraft, so take your chances to see it and to fly on it!
ReplyDeleteI would be cautious booking with them before the flights actually start.
ReplyDeleteYou know they have already been operating certain routes for almost a year.
DeleteIs this Baltia Air Lines 2?
ReplyDeleteIs this Baltia Air Lines 2?
ReplyDeleteI am very skeptical about this. Not that SJJ does not have potential for USA flights. Bosnian diaspora is younger one, more attached to homeland, so there is a case to be made. Problem is that the Eastern Airlines does not have flights within the US. Price is ridiculous. I am flying to SJJ in July and paid $1200 for Premium Economy on United/Austrian. We have not heard anything about FAA and DHS approving route. I am not sure are there any info on that?
ReplyDeleteTotally agree with you. It smells fishy to me.
DeleteThey could be just testing the terrain.
DeleteSo, they have only 12 planes and use them only for long-haul and they have a luxury to keep one of them (8% of capacity) grounded for 24 hours in Sarajevo for no reason? Yeah...really feasible...
ReplyDeleteI checked their web site, Sarajevo is their only European route...other destinations are in Caribbean and South America.
To me, their whole concept sounds a lot like a big money laundering or some other scheme.
Destinations are unreasonable, timetables are disasterous, service non existant, web site confusing.
Would be happy if this route works well, but there are so many BUTs and WHYs that I am not really sure.
Just look at JU JFK route. What is their main advantage and WHY it has "good" LF? Transfers! And I am talking a LOT! Here? Eastern? Nothing! Very very strange
It is just 15 flights during 2021 and a total capacity one way of 3570 seats!
DeleteYou do not need for this money losing short haul network. They very well realised that the only market in the region to ORD is VFR that is very flexible as to arrival and departure dates. Why bleed money on transfer passengers whether on the US side or on the ex-Yu side? Just fill the plane with O&D pax where the cost per seat is the lowest.
Are they really sending a 767-200 or was that a typo? I know they have both 767-200 767-300 in their fleet .
ReplyDeleteIt's 767-200 like it says. Why would it be a typo?
DeleteThis ORD-SJJ is no longer bookable on Eastern's website.
ReplyDelete